I finally finished reading Mark Yarm’s Everybody Loves Our Town. The story in a nutshell: punk and metal fans in Washington state formed a bunch of bands and a few record labels. They made some good music. Word started getting out. Everyone started doing a ton of heroin. Nevermind reached #1 on the Billboard charts. Lots of money was thrown around. The scene imploded. Then people moved on to the next thing.

“Sub Pop turned the tables a bit: we’re geeks, we’re record collectors, we’re losers, we’re pathetic. People like Mark Arm [Mudhoney] and Kurt Cobain and Tad [TAD] — these guys embodied this is such a great way. They were not your typical good-looking punk rock stars. They were kinda skinny, nose-picking nerds. Except for Tad, who was a fat, burger-burping geek. But they were lovable and you sort of wanted to be part of that gang.”